Lookin into getting a new 05 this week. It's a 3500 SRW Q/C LWB 6SPD 4WD. SLT Lonestar package. The sticker is 41 grand. I can get it for 33 with the employee and other discounts. The blue book value on mine is 13grand, but the NADA says $18800, for trade-in. I figure if they give me 15 for mine I'd be getting an alright deal. Anybody think this is not a good deal? It's at ATASCOSA dodge outside San Antonio. The employee pricing ends on Friday, so I need to say yay or neigh by then. What does eveyone think? Go new or stand by my ol' girl? Thanks.

 

Go for it, sounds like a good deal and the whole employee pricing won't come back for a while. I plan to have my 05 for a long time to come, motor is great, I don't know what I would do without the cummins.

 

do the 05's have the NV5600 or that new one?

 

Yes!

Which tranny it has depends on when it was built. If reverse is LEFT-DOWN, it's the G56. Otherwise, it's the NV5600.

I just picked up an 05 with a G56. I looked for one with a NV5600, but couldn't find one in a truck equipped the way I wanted it. There are very few NV5600s left on dealer lots.

If a truck has an NV5600, the invoice will usually list it as a $400 option: HD Transmission

 

So the G56 is a lighter duty tranny? Is it the the Getrag unit used by the other guys? Never knew they were swappin em' out.

 

No it's not a Getrag, although it may have some Getrag built parts in it. but so do some Cummins engines. It's a Mercedes truck transmission, and the units in the Rams are built in Brazil. The G56 is designated for vehicles up to 23,000 GVWR, so it's not a lightweight transmission. That said, it doesn't appear to be as heavy duty a unit as the NV5600, and it's OD ratio is slightly lower.

G56s seem to have been in use in Europe for quite a few years, and appears to have a good track record. At least, I couldn't find any complaints about them. The biggest issue may be the dual mass flywheel (DMF) and clutch assembly that mates the tranny to the engine. I'm assuming it is a newly designed unit for this application, without any track record. The DMF/clutch parts are ridiculously expensive. You can do an internet search and find a couple of posts that list them. The prices will take your breath away.

You may also find some posts that insist the G56 is a Getrag. There is at least one individual that seems to be on a crusade to attach the Getrag label to the G56, no matter what, even in the face of such things as Mercedes press releases that state it is a Mercedes Commercial Vehicle Division (now DC CVD) product.

My take on the G56/DMF combo: If I could have found a NV5600 in a truck equipped the way I wanted, I would have bought it in a heartbeat. My G56 equipped truck will stay stock and be driven gently, at least until enough people prove that you can't blow them or the DMF up.

 

Thanks, So i'm guessing if I crawl under the truck it'll be easy to tell which tranny it has?

 

The G56 has an aluminum case. The NV5600 is said to have a cast iron case. The G56 has reverse LEFT and DOWN. The NV5600 has it somewhere else, RIGHT and UP, I think. Search the posts for a definitive answer.

 

well i bought it and it does indeed have the G56. those 4.10 gears are in need of bigger rubber already. 2000RPM at only 60 or so.

 

That sounds like the 3.73s. I get roughly the same thing with my 3.73 diffs, and I sure would like a 7th gear.

 

It can't have the 4.10's, the 3.73's are the only gears available with the G 56 (unless something has changed)

 

I cant find where it says it anywhere, I guess i'll have to look at the tag on the diff. Is the overdrive really that low? Geesh!

 

3.73 is standard with the G56. If you have anything else (highly doubtful, as there are no listed optional ratios), if would appear as an option on the window sticker. If there is nothing on the sticker, it's a 3.73.

OD is 0.79.

 

There 3.73's. If it doesn't say 4.10's on the window sticker there 3.73's.
Good luck with the new truck my wife loves hers!
Topper

 

I tried to trade mine at the end of August for a 05 3500 with all the options mine has. It was 43,700. With the discounts and the employee thing, it looked pretty good. NADA was 14,400 average trade value. They would not give me more that 8000 for mine. They said it was because of the employee discount that was running the wholesale market down.

I told them to go xxxx in there flat hat. That was a dealer in Ft Meyers, Florida.

Hope you do better. I'd be interested to know what you got for your trade.

Dave